Before attempting to breed anything, make sure you have a plan for the young. Bettas can produce over 500 fry in one pairing, so be sure you have somewhere for them all to go.

Betta have a fairly short lifespan, and are most successful as breeders when they are under a year old.

Make sure the male and female are about the same size.

It is best to have your Betta fish for a few months before you start breeding to allow them to adapt to their environment. Plan to breed them when you have a long, uninterrupted stretch of free time. Once you introduce the male and female, you will need to devote at least a few hours every single day for more than 2 months to caring for the pair and their young.

The breeding tank should be 5 – 10 gallons and set up with a removable divider, a few hiding places, an adjustable filter (such as a sponge filter with a gang valve), and a heater set to around 26.7°c. Never add gravel or other substrate to the breeding tank because the eggs will get lost when they fall to the bottom. Only fill this tank with 5 – 6 inches of water, and set it up where there are few distractions, such as other fish, bright colours, and human activity.

Start feeding live food when you are ready to breed them. Blood worms are the best, but other worms will also work. If live food is unavailable, you can also try frozen or freeze-dried brine shrimp and blood worms.

When the live food cultures are going strong and the breeding pair has been eating live food for a week or two, you are ready to introduce them. Move the male and female so they can see one another clearly, but are separated. You can either put their tanks next to each other, or introduce them to opposite sides of the tank divider in the breeding tank. It is essential that they are able to see each other before being put together to minimize the risk of serious injury.

Female on the left, flaring at her male

7. Watch the betas to see if they seem interested in one another. The male will swim around, displaying his fins, flaring and generally showing off. The female will display vertical lines on her body and will angle her head down submissively. Some aggressive displays are normal, but if they are flaring and trying to attack one another through the divider, do not put them together. Instead, it may be best to separate them and try again later, or try different pair of Betta fish.

8. Once your male Betta fish is ready to breed, he will build a large bubble nest. When this happens, turn off the filter and release the female into the tank, but be sure to keep an eye on the pair. The male will probably bully her some, nipping at fins and chasing her around. This is alright as long as neither fish’s life is in danger. This courtship may last several hours or even days. Be sure there are plenty of hiding places for the female to escape the bullying, and check on the pair regularly to prevent serious injuries.

9. When they are ready to breed, the pair will display coloration and begin circling each other under the bubblenest. The male will wrap himself around the female who has turned on her back. It may take a few embraces to produce eggs. Then the female will go into a “zombie-like” state while the white eggs fall to the ground from her little white ovipositor. The male will swim down and scoop them up, putting them one by one into the nest. Some females will help with this once they recover, but others will eat the eggs. So watch carefully and remove her if she is eating them. They may embrace many more times, but eventually the female will stop releasing eggs.

10. Once the female is done releasing eggs, the male will bully her again, and she will hide. Gently scoop her out and put her into her own tank. Treat her tank with Maroxy to help her fins heal. It is a good idea to treat the breeding tank with Maroxy too, to prevent fungus from killing the eggs.

Male Betta wrap around female Betta

11. Leave the male in the tank until the fry can swim around (about three days after hatching). Feed the male Betta fish a small amount of food every second day. Do not alarmed if he does not eat right away, but continue to offer the food, and gently remove uneaten food. Keep the filter off to prevent any current from disturbing the fry, but keep the tank light on day and night. 12. When the fry initially hatch they will hang from the bubble nest, and the male will replace any that fall. After a few days, the fry will begin “free-swimming”, swimming horizontally and venturing away from the nest. Before this, the fry will be feeding on what’s left of the egg yolk, and cannot eat on their own.

Betta Fry in Bubble Nest

13. Remove the male from the tank, being very careful not to net any fry. He can return to his normal routine and feeding schedule. If he is still looking ragged from the courtship, add some Maroxy to help him heal. 14. Betta fry are very small, and only eat live food. As soon as you remove the male, feed the fry a small portion of live microworms. Feed twice a day, and watch closely to see how much is eaten. If live microworms are still present when it is time for the next feeding, you can skip it since the fry still have food. If you see many dear microworms, you are overfeeding, so cut back on the portions. Fry need to be fed very small live food, such as,

Infusoria – These will feed the fry for their first week of life

Microworms – You will need to buy a starter culture, after that you never have to buy them again. Good for fry 3 – 40 days old.

Baby Brine Shrimp – These are easy to hatch and are the easiest to control how much to feed, but feeding to much will result in swim bladder disorder.

15. Keep the fry warm at 26.7°c and cover the tank to prevent drafts and evaporation. Continue to feed increasing amounts of food. When the fry outgrow the breeding tank, they will need to be moved to a larger tank. Not all fry will survive the first few weeks, but if you see large numbers dying each day, you probably have a problem. Check temperature, chemical levels, and consider the possibility of treating for infection.

When the fry are one week old, turn on the filter, but restrict the flow with a gang valve so it is barely noticeable.

When the fry are two weeks old, begin performing small (10%) water changes every few days to keep the tank clean and free of dead food, but use a gentle siphon or turkey baster to prevent injuring the fry, and add clean water very slowly. You can begin turning off the tank light at night.

Over the next few weeks, gradually increase the flow of the filter, watching fry carefully to be sure they are strong enough to swim against the current.

16. By the time the fry are two weeks you should move them to at least a 20 gallon tank but make sure the temperature and water in the tank are the same as what the fry are used to. Fry are delicate – one slip up could result in them dying. If you used a half filled 5 or 10 gallon tank, you can fill the tank up and move them when they are 4 – 5 weeks old. 17. When the fry are about one month old, you can gradually start switching the fry to frozen and then freeze-dried and flake or pellet food. Make sure the food is crushed small enough for their tiny mouths. Offer small amount and wean them off the live food slowly. Always remove uneaten food. 18. When the male fry begin fighting (anywhere from 5 – 8 weeks old), it is time to remove them from the tank. Place them in individual tanks close to one another, as they can become depressed if suddenly isolated. Males that are not fighting can be left with the females until they become aggressive. Some males will refuse to eat the first day or two, try feeding live food to stimulate their appetite. Continue to separate out all male and aggressive fish as they become apparent. In the following days and weeks, you will want to begin isolating the males with opaque dividers, as they will stress each other out, flaring and trying to attack the males in adjacent tanks.

Fry Growth

This is the photo chronicle of a betta fish's growth from egg to adulthood.

After eleven weeks of growth, the amount of week-to-week change is too little to be interesting. From then to seven months of age the betta fish's body shape stays the same with a very slow increase in size. The fins grow at a glacial rate, eventually developing their full length at seven months.

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